Removal of carpet request

[HangryBrickShark]

Buyer has asked if we can remove carpets from our three bedroom house which is fully carpeted throughout prior to them moving in.

We are 9 months into the sale process on a simple straightforward 50% shared ownership sale. Buyer is a first time buyer with mortgage offer in place, we are moving into a house bequeathed to me so no chain.

We had a RICS survey stating house was worth 300k so £150k with 50% shared ownership. Buyer said their mortgage lender looked historically at the house next door which was sold 4 yrs ago for £135k and said ours was therefore only worth that. Our solicitor or estate agent never fought our corner. Buyer allegedly went to another mortgage lender who said they'd only offer them £135k. We reluctantly agreed on that price. Then our case file got transferred to a new fee earner at another office. This has delayed things considerably.

The solicitors on both sides are incredibly slow and the estate agent is a waste of space, never chasing progress for us. We are stuck with who we are abke to use as the pool of solicitors are determined by the housing association that own our home.

The buyers solicitor finally sent enquiries to us which we answered promptly and returned to our solicitors but were not then returned to buyers solicitor for a week. 7 weeks on from the date they were returned I rang our solicitor to find out why everything had stalled and why they'd not proactively chased them. The next day we received the TR1 and the Contract, both showing a different sale price. Honestly, you couldn't make it up. New one sent by buyers solicitor (well not a new one just incorrect info crossed out and amended) 🙄and no apology from our solicitor who obviously is not doing his due diligence by checking the documents are correct before forwarding them onto us for signing. If he made that glaringly obvious mistake how many more has he made?

Now today our solicitor has received an email from buyers solicitor saying they want carpets removing from the property.

Not only will this mean additional work for us, it will also have a cost implication to get someone to pull them all up and skip them. We feel they are calling all the shots and we don't want to lose our buyer but neither do we want to be manipulated in this way. We really don't want to pander to them like this.

How would you respond to this request for carpet removal? I've never heard of such a thing. If we do go with their request, how much do you think we should ask to cover our costs, bearing in mind the additional work/time and cost of a skip?

Our solicitor should be advising us and helping us with this but he doesn't.

We were allowed to remove the carpet in our new house after we had exchanged. The seller had moved into a residential flat so they were happy for us to clean and take the carpet up before completing. I would never have asked the seller to do it.

Fitters no longer do this as it’s too expensive for them to take to tip

Honestly? Just say "no". First-time buyers (I've been one) have some odd ideas and no experience around house buying. This isn't a reasonable request, so don't even consider it.

They are being momentarily cheeky with this request. It’s understandable that you don’t want to lose a buyer, but equally they won’t want to lose their purchase.
i would respond along the lines of ‘we respectfully remind you that the property remains our family home up until the point of exchange. Any works to strip the property may be completed by yourselves after this date’.

This.

Thanks everyone - we've responded with a no and await a response.

Good.
It's completely impractical to move out and pull up the carpets after you, you've got enough going on already. However it is practical for them to get it done as their first job in an empty house. It makes much more sense for them to do it, not you.

They definitely do! We had all our flooring replaced last year and the fitters disposed of the carpet and the underlay. They keep skips at their premises for the old carpets.

Do update us.
It seems so many people buying second hand houses on a supermarket cider budget have champagne and new house expectations these days....Been there, dealt with them!

My buyer requested the carpets be taken out. I was fuming but said ok but I won't be removing stuck underlay, nails, carpet strips😏 or anything except the carpet itself, she changed her mind.

Actually that would be ideal, you then get new carpets laid without the expense of underlay

I will.

And yes I agree with you. It's actually a lovely three bed with ensuite, bathroom and toilet and downstairs toilet, spacious lounge and two allocated parking spaces, good sized garden and shed, side gate from garden to car space next to it, light and airy end terrace. 15 years old. Not sure how much more they need! Grrr

What on earth is wrong with people?! They are buying a house! It’s up to the. To do what they choose with the carpets, wallpaper, cupboards, taps… good Lord.

I know. They'll be asking us to replanted soon 🤣🤣

In my current house the carpets were absolutely minging and to have had the vendors pull them up before I moved in would have been amazingly helpful. However it’s a huge ask, it’s messy and hard work and so I just moved in then did one room at a time so that I could dispose myself. I’d have happily paid £1000 for them to do it but wouldn’t have had the gall to ask. To start with you could only do this once you’ve exchanged contracts which would give you only a couple of weeks usually until completion. You’d have all your stuff packed up it would be a nightmare. Maybe suggest to them they spend the first day they move in doing this and have the removal company keep their belongings overnight

Definitely no! You can’t do it until after exchange anyway in case the sale falls through, and tell them you’re going to be super busy packing up and painting/decorating your new house, even if you’re not. They sound a pain.

I have had post buying issues as well - 8 months after selling a house they had a burst pipe in an attic en-suite. They went through solicitors to ask me as the vendor to pay for the damage to the whole house!
I was so tempted to photo copy me offering a suitable hand signal as my formal reply....
They spent a fair bit on solicitors as I got 3 letters, before finally paying my solicitor to write a response basically saying 'this is now professional harassment, you as a solicitor know it is caveat emptor, so stop any letters to my client."

OP, you have to be out by a certain time when contracts are completed and money has been transferred. This is stressful enough. How on earth would you be expected to remove all your furniture and then arrange for carpets to be removed?
CF's. Trying it on. It's their issue to deal with when they move in and actually, like, own it.
Glad you said no.